20th Century

The History of an Unfinished Project: The Dictionary “Russian Botanists” by Sergey Yu. Lipshits

by Anastasia Fedotova

Botanicheskiy zhurnal. 2012. Vol 97. № 3. P. 381-398. In Russian

The biographical and bibliographical dictionary ¨Russian botanists¨ by Sergey Yu. Lipshits was a unique bibliographic... more The biographical and bibliographical dictionary ¨Russian botanists¨ by Sergey Yu. Lipshits was a unique bibliographic project; it remains an essential guidebook for historians of biology in Russia. It contains biographical and full bibliographical entries for all botanists and other scholars engaged in botanical research in Russia in the 18th – mid-20th centuries. What makes the dictionary an invaluable resource for the history of botany (both social history and history of ideas) is the fact that it contains data not only on the leading scientists but on minor figures as well, even if the entries provide only a brief biographical account and a short outline of academic activities. However, only the first four volumes of the dictionary (up to the letter K) came out of print, and a few copies of the proofs for the fifth volume (the letters L-M) have been preserved. In this paper author made an attempt to describe on the basis of archival and published materials the sequence of the work progress, the difficulties that encountered S.Yu. Lipchitz and MOIP in process of publication, and how the publication was stopped by Department for Agitation and Propaganda of TsK VKP(b).

This is Not For You: The Rise and Fall of Music Milieux in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, 1950s -1990s

by Rylan Kafara

MA Thesis.

When Nirvana found sudden commercial success with the song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in 1991, the music industry’s... more When Nirvana found sudden commercial success with the song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in 1991, the music industry’s attention became focused on Seattle for the first time. The city, however, had a rich musical tradition going back decades.  This thesis examines the rise and fall of music communities in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest from the 1950s to the 1990s: the jazz mileu in Seattle in the 1950s, the Pacific Northwest garage rock network of the 1960s, and the alternative music community of the 1980s and early 1990s. It looks at the factors involved in the development of these three distinct scenes: timing, innovation, and marketability, showing the opportunities and limitations of regional music milieux. In doing so, it reveals a trend of musicians of each scene departing Seattle for more major industry centres like Los Angeles. What separated the milieu Nirvana participated in from earlier regional communities was the fact musicians stopped leaving Seattle. This thesis shows why it was finally more beneficial for them to stay.

'Bomb back, and bomb hard': debating reprisals during the Blitz

by Brett Holman

Australian Journal of Politics and History (accepted; September 2012).

In Britain, popular memory of the Blitz celebrates civilian resistance to the German bombing of London and other... more In Britain, popular memory of the Blitz celebrates civilian resistance to the German bombing of London and other cities, emphasising positive values such as stoicism, humour and mutual aid. This 'Blitz spirit' is still called to mind during times of national crisis, for example in response to the July 2005 terrorist bombings in London. But the memory of such passive and defensive traits obscures the degree to which British civilian morale in 1940 depended on the belief that if Britain had to 'take it', then Germany was taking it as hard or harder. As the Blitz mounted in intensity, Home Intelligence reports and newspaper letter columns featured calls for heavier reprisals against German cities. That the RAF's bombing efforts over Germany at this time were in fact wildly inaccurate and largely ineffective is beside the point: nobody in Britain was aware of this yet. The reprisals debate was the logical legacy of prewar assumptions about the overwhelming power of bombing; it has been forgotten
because it contradicts the myth of the Blitz.

Quentin Deluermoz et Jérémie Foa (dir.), Usurpations de fonction et appropriations du pouvoir en situation de crise (XIXe-XXe siècle), Paris, Centre d'Histoire du XIXe siècle, 2012.

by Jérémie Foa

Pieter Elberveld: The Modern Adventure of an Eighteenth-Century Indonesian Hero

by William Bradley Horton

A palavra de António Rosa, música que nos canta

by Pedro Corga

Publicado na revista "Forma Breve 4", Revista de Literatura - O Fragmento (1 Dezembro de 2006)

Class Struggle and Class Compromise in the Netherlands and Switzerland (1914-1950)

by Adrian Zimmermann

Abstract of the paper to be presented at the ESSHC-confernce, Glasgow 11-14 April 2012

A Grandeza da Simplicidade: Canções de Natal de Tomás Borba

by Luís Henriques

"The Greatness of Simplicity: Christmas Songs by Tomás Borba"
Published in Diário Insular, 20334, 27 December 2011.

The Next War in the Air: Civilian Fears of Strategic Bombardment in Britain 1908-1941

by Brett Holman

PhD thesis, University of Melbourne, 2009

During the First World War, several writers began to argue that the main strategic risk to Britain was the possibility... more During the First World War, several writers began to argue that the main strategic risk to Britain was the possibility of a sudden, intense aerial bombardment of its cities, which would cause tremendous destruction and large numbers of casualties. The nation would be knocked-out of the war very quickly, in a matter of days or weeks, before it could fully realise its military potential. The theory of the knock-out blow solidified into a consensus during the 1920s and by the 1930s had almost become an orthodoxy, accepted by pacifists and militarists alike.

My thesis examines the concept of the knock-out blow as it was articulated in the public sphere, the reasons why it came to be so widely accepted in public life, and the way it shaped the responses of the British public to the great issues facing them in the 1930s: armaments and appeasement, war or peace. It mainly draws on published, but little examined, sources -- books, journals, newspapers -- produced in the period between 1908 (when aviation was first perceived as a threat to British security) and 1941 (when the Blitz ended, and it was obvious that no knock-out blow was coming). And it shows how, after having been taught to fear the bomber as the bringer of destruction to all they knew and held dear, the British people were instead taught to regard it as their best hope for victory.

World police for world peace: British internationalism and the threat of a knock-out blow from the air, 1919-1945

by Brett Holman

War in History 17 (2010), 313-32.

This paper argues that the remarkably widespread enthusiasm in Britain after 1918 for an international air force was... more This paper argues that the remarkably widespread enthusiasm in Britain after 1918 for an international air force was due to a confluence of two factors: the long-standing liberal belief that international law could prevent war, and the emergence of a new theory of warfare which claimed that the bomber was a weapon which could not be defended against. The origins of the international air force concept in the 1920s, its apogee in the 1930s, and its decline (and revival) in the Second World War are examined, showing that its fortunes rose and fell with internationalism and the knock-out blow.

The air panic of 1935: British press opinion between disarmament and rearmament

by Brett Holman

Journal of Contemporary History 46 (2011), 288-307.

The British fear of bombing in the early twentieth century has aptly been termed ‘the shadow of the bomber’. But the... more The British fear of bombing in the early twentieth century has aptly been termed ‘the shadow of the bomber’. But the processes by which the public learned about the danger of bombing are poorly understood. This paper proposes that the press was the primary source of information about the threat, and examines a formative period in the evolution of public concern about airpower — the so-called air panic of 1935 — during which German rearmament was revealed and large-scale RAF expansion undertaken in response. A proposed air pact between the Locarno powers enabled a shift from support of disarmament to rearmament by newspapers on the right, while simultaneously supporting collective security. Paradoxically, after initially supporting the air pact, the left-wing press and its readers began to have doubts, for the same reason: the need to support collective security. This episode sheds new light on Britain’s early rearmament, and how the government was able to undertake it, despite the widespread feelings in the electorate in favour of disarmament.

« Promenades et flâneries à Paris du XVIIe au XXIe siècles : la marche comme construction d’une identité urbaine », Marcher en ville. Faire corps, prendre corps, donner corps aux ambiances urbaines. sous la direction de Rachel Thomas, Paris, Ed. des Archives Contemporaines, 2010, p. 65-84.

by Laurent Turcot

RÉSUMÉ (français)
Le XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles voient se constituer la figure urbaine qu’est le promeneur parisien.... more RÉSUMÉ (français)
Le XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles voient se constituer la figure urbaine qu’est le promeneur parisien. Rendu possible par la construction de promenades publiques, d’une littérature de voyage qui incite à la promenade et de tout un contexte social qui favorise la déambulation à même à la ville, ce promeneur donne à la Capitale française une part de son identité et, en retour, se définit par elle. Ce que nous proposons d’analyser dans la présente contribution est la fortune de cette figure
urbaine. À travers des textes littéraires, Louis-Sébastien Mercier et Rétif de la Bretonne pour le XVIIIe siècle, Baudelaire pour le XIXe siècle et Pierre Sansot ou Guy Debord pour le XXe siècle, pour ne citer que les plus connus, nous entendons proposer une lecture croisée de l’oeuvre de ces écrivains afin de comprendre comment ils transmettent leur manière de flâner dans la ville. Si on assiste à une individualisation de figure du promeneur au XVIIIe siècle, le flâneur du XIXe siècle penche plutôt vers l’intériorité, il s’éloigne de la foule pour mieux la contempler. Enfin, le personnage du flâneur au XXe et XXIe siècle se conjuge au pluriel puisque cette identité devient multiple, il y a des flâneurs de tout types, de l’homme des foules au penseur solitaire en passant par le militant politique de la marche. Il convient ici de tracer un lien entre ces définitions pour comprendre les transformations qui (re)fondent cette figure du flâneur parisien.

Mots-clefs
Paris, Histoire littéraire, Promeneur, Flâneur

RÉSUMÉ (Anglais)
From the 17th to the 18th century, Paris saw the constitution of the urban stroller. It’s was made possible with new strolling conditions. Unlike the public gardens - closed, gated, and inaccessible - the Boulevards and the Champs Élysées open up, becoming integral parts of the city, open spaces in the urban landscape. By allowing pedestrians to wander in safety, these spaces begin to encourage liberal promenade, unconstrained physically and socially. The following paper aims to shed light on the functions, motivations, and consequences of this new urban promenade in the French capital under the Ancien Régime, but also how this urban figure was transformed throughout the 19th to the 21th century. The works of Louis-Sébastien Mercier and Nicolas-Edmé Rétif de la Bretonne for the 18th century, Charles Baudelaire for the 19th century and Pierre Sansot and Guy Debord for the 20th century are analysed to understand how the urban figure of the stroller became plural. Aside from the individual stroller, there are numerous models of individual stroller troughout the modern period: man of the crowd or the solitary walker. The act of promenading allows the stroller to take in the city all the while granting a sense ofautonomy. There is an individualization of both the practice of promenading and of the urban space. This allows us to understand the genesis of the urban behavior of
the stroller.

Key words: Paris, Walker, Urban sociability, Individual, Publics Gardens

Making light work: practices and practitioners of photometry

by Sean Johnston

Light measurement, a hybrid subject straddling science and technology, was shaped by, and in turn shaped, its cultural... more Light measurement, a hybrid subject straddling science and technology, was shaped by, and in turn shaped, its cultural environment and disparate communities of investigators. This orphan subject, while not the success story commonly singled out for historical analysis, had developmental features that may be common to other twentieth-century subjects.

Telling tales: George Stroke and the historiography of holography

by Sean Johnston

The history of holography, the technology of three-dimensional imaging that grew rapidly during the 1960s, has been... more The history of holography, the technology of three-dimensional imaging that grew rapidly during the 1960s, has been written primarily by its historical actors and, like many new inventions, its concepts and activities became surrounded by myths and myth-making. The first historical account was disseminated by the central character of this paper, George W. Stroke, while a professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Michigan. His claims embroiled several workers active in the field of holography and information processing during the 1960s, but transcended personality conflicts: they influenced the early historiography of holography and the awarding of the Nobel Prize for Physics to Dennis Gabor in 1971. An extended discussion of these episodes, based on archival research, publications analysis and interviews with participants, reveals the importance and extraordinary allure of intellectual priority for practicing scientists, and how its history and explanations are woven from multiple accounts and contemporary interpretations.

Implanting a Discipline: The Academic Trajectory of Nuclear Engineering in the USA and UK

by Sean Johnston

The nuclear engineer emerged as a new form of recognised technical professional between 1940 and the early 1960s as... more The nuclear engineer emerged as a new form of recognised technical professional between 1940 and the early 1960s as nuclear fission, the chain reaction and their applications were explored. The institutionalization of nuclear engineering channelled into new national laboratories and corporate design offices during the decade after the war, and hurried into academic venues thereafter proved unusually dependent on government definition and support. This paper contrasts the distinct histories of the new discipline in the USA and UK (and, more briefly, Canada). In the segregated and influential environments of institutional laboratories and factories, historical actors such as physicist Walter Zinn in the USA and industrial chemist Christopher Hinton in the UK proved influential in shaping the roles and perceptions of nuclear specialists. More broadly, I argue that the State-managed implantation of the new subject within further and higher education curricula was shaped strongly by distinct political and economic contexts in which secrecy, postwar prestige and differing industrial cultures were decisive factors.

Security and the shaping of identity for nuclear specialists

by Sean Johnston

Atomic energy developed from 1940 as a subject shrouded in secrecy. Identified successively as a crucial element in... more Atomic energy developed from 1940 as a subject shrouded in secrecy. Identified successively as a crucial element in military strategy, national status and export aspirations, the research and development of atomic piles (nuclear chain-reactors) were nurtured at isolated installations. Like monastic orders, new national laboratories managed their specialist workers in occupational environments that were simultaneously cosseted and constrained, defining regional variants of a new state-managed discipline: reactor technology. This paper discusses the significance of security in defining the new subject in the USA, UK and Canada – wartime allies with similar political traditions but distinct trajectories in this field during the Cold War. The intellectual borders and content of the subject developed differently in each country, shaped under the umbrella of secrecy by disparate clusters of expertise, industrial traditions, and national goals. The nascent cadre was contained until the mid 1950s by classified publications and state-sponsored specialist courses. The early context of high security filtered its members and capped enduringly both their professional aspirations and public engagement.

Die Kriminalisierung und Verfolgung von Randgruppen in der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts am Beispiel der österreichischen „Zigeuner “

by Ursula Mindler

published in: Christian Bachhiesl / Sonja Maria Bachhiesl (eds.), Kriminologische Theorie und Praxis. Geistes- und naturwissenschaftliche Annäherungen an die Kriminalwissenschaft. Wien 2001, p. 59-79.

Landschaftsgeschichte global. Wahrnehmung und Bedeutung von Bergen im internationalen Austausch des 18. bis 20. Jahrhunderts

by Jon Mathieu

Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Geschichte 60 (2010), pp. 412-427

„Landscape history“ is a growing genre in the humanities, here it will be brought together with „connected“ and... more „Landscape history“ is a growing genre in the humanities, here it will be brought together with „connected“ and „global“ history. From the example of mountains the article examines some ways in which the international transfer of cultural representations and practices have created a kind of global landscape since the eighteenth century. The first section looks at linguistic indicators for the transfer of such models. The next two sections focus on alpinism and on the ecological movement, wide spread phenomena of the colonial and post-colonial eras. The forth section, finally, points to the divergency between perceptions of mountain landscapes from the outside and inside, which is intrinsic to cultural transfer.

Book Review: Hitler by Ian Kershaw

by Paul Doolan

Book Review: Model Nazi by Catherine Epstein

by Paul Doolan